Looking a bit deeper at Mac vs. Newberg

First things first. I screwed up.

If you happened to read The News-Register on Tuesday and opened to page A10, you probably saw a breakout box titled, “Lopsided Dominance.” It had a list of the scores between McMinnville and Newberg in wrestling going back to the 1999-2000 school year.

The top score — supposedly from the 2012-13 school year — was wrong. That line should have read, “2011-12: Newberg 38-33” instead of “2012-13: McMinnville 38-33.” The top line should have been reserved for the accomplishment the Grizzlies pulled off Jan. 24 with a 45-28 win vs. Newberg — their first win vs. the Tigers since Dec. 12, 1980.

To further the confusion, the other scores in the list were all labeled wrong. Needless to say, I apologize.

The story fascinates me, and I don’t want my errors to detract from what a memorable win it was for Mac last week. I spent hours over the past week combing through The News-Register archives as well as old McMinnville yearbooks tracking down the scores (most of them) from 1980-81 to today. Below you will see the product of that labor. It paints a more complete picture of Newberg’s success vs. McMinnville.

While the results show the Grizzlies not having won a dual meet vs. Newberg since the final days of the Carter Administration, it doesn’t tell the complete story of how Mac has fought and struggled. Those are the stories I’m interested in. I can’t help but think back to Mac wrestling coach Shawn Keinonen’s time at Newberg as a 151-pound wrestler and then him deciding to coach at McMinnville in 2008. That first year Mac lost 63-8 to the Tigers.

I watched Keinonen closely when Mac finally won last week. He didn’t allow himself much emotion besides a smile. Such is the demeanor of a wrestling coach. Afterward when we talked, the relief of getting that stone off his back was evident.

Who knows, maybe Newberg will win next season and start another streak against the Grizzlies. I highly doubt it, though, because Keinonen has taken a slice of what he grew up with in Newberg and has transplanted here. Mac should be fun to watch for years to come.